NOTRE DAME PREVIEW

Believe it or not, there is an actual game this weekend and it’s kind of an important one.  Saturday, at noon, Pitt plays host to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  The Irish will carry a 1-2 record into the game, but that record is deceiving.  By all rights, Notre Dame could easily be 3-0.  Turnovers and something Pitt fans know all too well (a fourth quarter collapse) contributed greatly to their losing record at this point in the season.

Pitt comes off a 4^th quarter collapse of their own, dropping a tough one to Iowa after leading late in the 3^rd quarter by 21.  Tino Sunseri continued his up and down play, unless you ask Tino.  He proclaimed this past weekend his best game yet.  Let’s hope it gets better, because most QBs do not enjoy throwing 2 picks, losing a fumble, and bobbling a very important third down.  When I saw his quote, all that came into my head was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IXCK1EyP4s .  But that is behind them, and now it is time to focus on Notre Dame.

Now, while I will admit that Pitt seemed to be getting very comfortable for 3 quarters in Iowa, Notre Dame is clearly hitting their stride with their offense led by sophomore QB Tommy Rees.  The connection he has with junior receiver Michael Floyd (31 catches for 397 yards and 2 touchdowns) is making the Irish very dangerous through the air.  This does not bode well for Pitt, as they currently rank second to last in pass defense.    Notre Dame is also running the ball well behind junior Cierre Woods and senior James Gray.    This balanced attack was clicking in a 31-13 win over then 15^th ranked Michigan State.  Pitt has been very strong against the line and they will need to continue that trend. 

Notre Dame’s defense is also strong, though they appear to be much stronger up front then in their defensive backfield.  The Pitt offensive line will need to continue to come together and it may be even tougher then you think, as Chris Jacobson is day to day with an apparent knee injury.  Hopefully he will be good to go, as Pitt will need to hold their blocks in this game.  Of course, they can always count on Ray Graham to do some damage.  Graham just missed 100 yards against Iowa on Saturday, but we all know what he is capable of (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rufrQR1UepM ), and the Irish do too. The Irish have given up some yardage in the air.  The defensive backfield has been weak, but they are getting better and are able to rely on senior corner, Robert Blanton, who was a beast last weekend.

So what can Pitt do to pull this one out?  Notre Dame’s Achilles heel this season has been turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.  After this past weekend’s three turnovers, the Irish have 13 in 3 games.  This is a category that Pitt has been very focused on, but can’t seem to get that big play on defense, save for a couple of times in the early season.  The Panthers will attack again in that area and see if true freshman, Juan Price can continue his great play and get to Rees.  On offense expect to see more of H-Back, Anthony Gonzalez, as he looked very solid in his first game last week with 3 catches.  They will also try to run and run with Ray Graham and possibly give Zach Brown a few more carries too.

Look, I would love to say that Pitt will ride the Oakland Zoo’s craziness and pull this one out, but I really feel like this is more of a true Notre Dame team coming into Pittsburgh on Saturday.  I do feel that the offense is getting better, and if the defense can play for 60 minutes, this could be a close one.  When thinking of who will win this game, I can’t get past, what my thoughts would be if Pitt had put the hammer down on Iowa last week and won by 3 touchdowns.  What would I think?  I think my prediction would be much different.  However, Pitt did not put the hammer down and that is why the Irish will come away with a big W on Saturday.  Final Score will be a close one, as I do think Pitt continues to improve under Todd Graham, but it ends up: Notre Dame 38  Pitt 27 with a late touchdown by the Irish to put it away.